BROWNINGTON — What should have been a reasonably quick and easy trailside fix for the Orleans SnowStormers Snowmobile Club of Orleans, has turned into a downtime of up to several weeks and several thousand dollars worth of damage to one of their trail groomers.
On Sunday night the group was operating their trail groomer on VAST Trail 58 in Brownington, when they experienced a mechanical issue that forced them to stop. As a result, they left the groomer on the side of the trail where it crosses Old Stone House Road.
Sometime that night the groomer was vandalized. Windows were smashed and electronic components were stolen. The vandalism left the groomer needing serious repair.
The incident was reported to Vermont State Police and they are currently investigating.
In the meantime, the Orleans SnowStormers trail system, which covers 55 miles of trail and provides southern Orleans County with vital trail access into the local towns, villages, and businesses, had to turn to other local clubs for help.
The Orleans County Snowmobile Association has already said that they will assist where they can by implementing mutual aid from the neighboring clubs if needed. Those clubs include the Drift Dusters Snowmobile Club in Derby, North Country Mountaineers in Coventry, Hazen’s Notch Snowmobile Club in Lowell, and Glover Trail Winders in Glover.
The clubs have each stated that they will be willing to help groom a section of the Orleans SnowStormers trail in the towns of Barton, Westmore, Brownington, and Charleston.
At this point they are also in contact with Get Sno LLC in Newport to see if they have a power unit that can be leased.
If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact the Vermont State Police, Derby Barraks, at (802) 334-8881.
